While on one hand, there were tears of joy, on the other, there were tears of sorrow. Such was the emotional French Open final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka that it left a deep-rooted effect on the two players. Sabalenka, especially, since she suffered back-to-back Grand Slam final defeats. Earlier this year, she had also reached the final of the Australian Open but was defeated by another American in the form of Madison Keys. With Sabalenka facing a situation of so near, yet so far, she got emotional after the French Open final.

During the post-match presentation ceremony, Sabalenka tried to control her emotions after losing to Gauff. However, the Belarusian star failed to keep her emotions in check and broke down after a heartbreaking loss. In what could potentially be the toughest battle between Sabalenka and Gauff, the latter kept her cool to prevail in a tense situation.

Sabalenka had the game in her control after she sealed the first set 7-6. However, she lost momentum and surrendered the second set tamely 6-2. Further, she committed several unforced errors and even had poor service games, which eventually cost her the match in the third set. Reacting to her defeat, Sabalenka was heartbroken and said, “Thank you to my team for your support. I’m sorry for this terrible final. Anyway, thank you, everyone. Thank you. As always, I’ll come back stronger.”

The Belarusian star vowed to come back stronger after suffering two back-to-back final defeats at Grand Slams this year. Sabalenka will now eye the Wimbledon Championships, which she missed out on last year. Although she doesn’t have the best of records on grass, Sabalenka will now look for redemption there to overcome her twin heartbreaks this season.

Meanwhile, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Sabalenka after a tough loss against Gauff. After the match, she was criticized by Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, for her ‘rude’ comment.

Rennae Stubbs hits back at Aryna Sabalenka

After her defeat in the French Open final, Sabalenka blamed the conditions for her loss. During the presentation ceremony, she revealed that the conditions were ‘horrible’ in the summit clash. This didn’t go down well with Stubbs, who took to social media to slam Sabalenka for not crediting Gauff enough and instead blaming her loss on the conditions.

She wrote, “Ugh….the tennis was not that bad. You made a bazillion unforced errors because you’re playing against the fastest players in the world who is gutsy as hell and had better composure than you!! But to say it was horrible…..ugh!!!! Damn that was rude. I said what I said.”

Like Stubbs, even the fans criticized Sabalenka for her post-match comments. Gauff was at her absolute best in the latter part of the match, as Sabalenka had no answers to her domination. Moreover, Gauff avenged her Madrid Open final defeat against Sabalenka in style as she claimed her maiden French Open crown. Even as there was sorrow in Sabalenka’s camp, Gauff’s camp was filled with contrasting emotions as she soaked in the joy of victory at the French Open.